The subject of national and statewide news, the Tennessee General Assembly convened in special session to dismantle the one majority Black and Democratic district in the state. The vote was swift, certain, and deftly orchestrated. With all the coverage, here are four observations you may have missed.
1. The fix was in…since 2024
It was obvious to any observers that the GOP supermajority had its “ducks in a row.” Within a week of the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, preliminary maps were floated, a special session convened, and discriminatory maps adopted. How did they orchestrate this typically complicated move so seamlessly?
Court observers have warned that Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito were intent on weakening the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As I wrote last week, in Alexander v. South Carolina Conference of the NAACP, Alito opined that state legislatures should be given the benefit of the doubt when they claim that vote dilution of minority voters was because of political party, not race. Alito said that to win a claim based on racial discrimination, there must be,
“a strong inference that the State intentionally drew its districts to afford minority voters less opportunity because of their race.”
The ridiculous statements by sponsor State Senator John Stevens and others throughout the redistricting debate that he was unaware that the 9th congressional district was majority Black were an attempt to inoculate the GOP against claims of intentionally diluting minority votes.
The most recent decision, Louisiana v. Callais, that triggered the legislature’s action originated in the district court on January 31st, 2024. Certiorari was granted by SCOTUS in 2024, sending a clear signal to the Trump Administration and its allies that a favorable decision was likely.
2. GOP messaging was consistent, but weak
The Tennessean reported that long-time GOP strategist and Rhodes College graduate, Brad Todd of OnMessage Inc., had been hired to assist in the process. Todd is a seasoned and effective communicator with countless wins in the political and corporate worlds. Perhaps 24 hours after the report, maybe less, GOP influencers, former party and gubernatorial staffers, GOP donors, and any right-leaning individual with a modest following began posting:
The Democrats could learn something about consistent messaging and leveraging their supporters. However, if Todd did craft the message, it was the best message they had, and it’s still weak.
That map didn’t take a concentrated population of African American voters and purposely split them into three different districts. Nor did it take the largest urban area in the state, divide it into thirds, and package it with all rural counties.
3. The majority party was oblivious to the historic significance of the vote
Perhaps this sounds obvious, but watching the debate and the subsequent social media posts, I was struck by the absolute tone deafness of the supermajority. There is no doubt they all understood the partisan power play they were making and the national implications of it. Yet, numerous scenes of laughing, joking, and patting their Black Democratic colleagues on the back as if to say, “Tough luck. You’ll get ‘em next time,” telegraphed their ignorance. This is not a means to excuse their votes or their actions because the significance was written in the faces of each Black member, some with tears coming from the corners of their eyes. This wasn’t something that “flew over their heads.” They consciously chose not to know.
4. Rules and decorum are different for Black members of the General Assembly
The debates on the House and Senate floors were passionate, even raucous. Rep. Justin Jones called Speaker Sexton “Grand Wizard” and later burned a miniature Confederate flag in the Capitol rotunda. In the Senate, Senator Charlene Oliver stood on her desk and unfurled a sheet with the words, “No Jim Crow 2.0.” Sound was muted on the video feed, and two Senate staffers were ordered to take the sheet away from her, which resulted in a precarious tug of war. There is no arguing that these acts of defiance violated the rules of decorum for each chamber. Lt. Governor McNally was quick to post his displeasure on social media and said there was no excuse for the behavior.
As the House session convened and legislators were entering the chamber, Rep. Todd Warner, a Republican from Chapel Hill, entered caped with a giant flag with the words “Trump 2024. No More Bullshit.” The flag was taken by the Sergeant-at-Arms while his colleagues laughed. There was no reprimand by anyone in leadership.
Democrats, mostly Black Democrats, introduced 30 or so amendments on the House floor. No opportunity was given to file those amendments “timely,” so the Speaker declared each time that the amendments were filed “untimely,” which meant a two-thirds vote, rather than a majority, was needed. None of the amendments would have passed, but that didn’t seem to be the point.
Even as far back as the Tennessee Three controversy, it is obvious that the rules are different for Black versus white members. In that case, Representatives Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson protested on the House floor. Jones and Pearson, who are Black, were expelled from the House and later reappointed by their county’s legislative bodies. Johnson, a white female, was stripped of her committee assignments, but her expulsion vote failed.
Redistricting battles have been fought across the decades, and there is much evidence of the heavy-handedness of Democrats and rural legislators who controlled the legislature for many years. It is the nature of the beast. This fight, however, is unprecedented in its timing, brazenness, and lack of moral clarity.